And it couldn’t have been with better timing! Here are three reasons why:

The Scottish Government has just publisheda draft of the upcoming Climate Change Plan. The draft Plan will be subject to a 60-day period of Parliamentary scrutiny, so our gathering will be a great opportunity to help each other understand and comment on it!

The draft Plan contains a pathway out to 2032, broken down into sector carbon envelopes, or budgets. The sectors are: Electricity, Residential, Transport, Services, Industry, Waste, Land Use (including Forestry and Peat) and Agriculture. Each sector contains policies and proposals designed to keep emissions within the carbon envelopes.

In November SCCAN convened a meeting with the Scottish Community Alliance to discuss the unique contribution of the community sector in tackling climate change; the barriers which hold the sector back; and the opportunities available for our sector to contribute to the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan. A paper was written as output from that meeting and is intended to inform and support the Scottish Government in the development of the Climate Change Plan.

The research looks at findings from psychology, sociology, geography, political science, economics and other social sciences, as well as faith, spiritual practice, arts and culture. The team developed dialogues with researchers working in these fields to ensure that findings are supported by good evidence. Input has also been included from individuals and organisations that have managed to overcome specific barriers in innovative ways. In addition, playwright Sarah Woods has collected stories from key individuals working on the ground, to actually make change happen.

The Zero Carbon Britain and Who’s Getting Ready for Zero reports, plus a host of other work, offer detailed scenarios and real-life practical projects that clearly demonstrate we already have the tools and technologies needed to get us there. Get a feeling for it here:

Andy Wightman, Green MSP, will join us in the afternoon as a Keynote Listener. During this time we will have a workshop where you can bring your own ideas and concerns, and it is a great chance to voice our ideas for the future and have them listened to by each other and representatives from government. Andy will also provide an inspiring conclusion to the day, sharing ideas on the community role in delivering low carbon aspirations.

Andy is a writer, researcher, analyst, commentator and activist on issues of land, power, governance, democracy and money. Over the past 20 years he has undertaken a wide range of work on land tenure, landownership, land reform and, more recently community land rights, governance and the hegemonic dimensions of land relations.